Ava's Beginnings Rewrite
by Dragonflychaser
Summary: Title says it all. I read some reviews and realized that it wasn't that great  rushed and everything else. This is short as well, but I hope it's better. No flames, it's already all typed up. T to be safe...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**A/N: Like I said in the summary, I realized that the first version wasn't that great... So I tried a rewrite - also like I said in the summary. Please no flames this time, as it is already written. Some constructive criticism, but don't kill me. And I know the story is short, as are some chapters - so don't review to tell me that.**

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Chapter 1 

I looked around the room, checking to see if everyone was gone. They were – good. I closed my eyes and concentrated, picturing the act taking place. When I opened them again, I saw that it had worked. More like didn't see, because I had turned invisible.

My name is Ava, I'm a human-avian hybrid at the University at Arkansas. I have red-brown hair, blue eyes, and red-brown wings. I'm a sort of prisoner, along with all the other experiments here. But let me give you a story about my beginnings.

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Three years ago, when I was twelve, I was your average everyday kid. No wings. My mother worked as a geneticist, and my father was an accountant. I had one _very_ young brother – my mom had a hard time conceiving.

She had been really happy when she found out she was pregnant with me, but unfortunately so was someone else. The head of the place where my mom worked; the Institute for Higher Living in New York. My mom tried to keep it secret for as long as she could, but eventually the pregnancy showed.

Her boss noticed and asked if she would like to have my DNA altered for the good of science. Yuh-huh. When did "for the good of science" involve torturing people? She said no and asked for pregnancy leave so I wouldn't be exposed to any dangerous experiments or toxic chemicals. It was granted, but of course the guy didn't listen about the "leave my baby alone" part. He contacted my mom's doctor and ordered him to combine avian DNA with my DNA in such a way that the genes would be dormant until they were needed.

"So let it be written, so let it be done." Little quote from _The Ten Commandments_ – the movie.

So for twelve years I grew up healthy and normal, in a healthy and normal environment. A few months into the school year, I was kidnapped. I had been waiting at the bus stop for a few minutes, and was suddenly pulled backwards into an alley by some kind of wolf-man. It was a terrifying experience. I was tied up and gagged; then thrown into the back of a van. I eventually fell asleep. When I woke up, I wasn't in New Jersey anymore. And it wasn't exactly a great Arkansas welcome either.

Meanwhile, they'd also rounded up my parents and little brother, tied them up in the living room, and blown up the house. So you can imagine how I felt when I got that news.

My old life was dead and over from that moment, and Karen O'Grady, who I used to be, was gone with it. _I'm not Karen,_ I thought at the time. _I'm Ava. I'm a bird in a cage._ Because I'd heard about what they were going to do to me.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Max.**

**A/N: To all those who read my stories - I am now only allowed to go to fanfic on Friday nights and Saturdays. So weekly posts. But I'll try to post at least two chapters each time I get on. Bear with me, people:)**

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Chapter 2

So how exactly did the wings show up? I was kept in an isolated room, and didn't see anyone else except whitecoats and Erasers, as I found out they were called. Twice a day I received radiation "treatments." After a month, they stopped doing that and started conducting x-rays and all other sorts of tests.

My blood cells, my heart, my lungs, my bone structure, it was all changing. The bird DNA was no longer dormant, but fully active. Six months after the radiation treatments stopped, the wings started to grow in. Another six months later they were fully grown, red-brown and twelve feet across. I had also grown three inches taller.

Once the whitecoats were satisfied with that, I was placed in a dog cage in the same room where all the other experiments were kept. There I met some real friends – Ichthia, Nat, Myles, Leti, Luna, and Drake.

Ichthia was part bird and part fish; she had long black hair, dark blue eyes, and silver-gray wings. Being part fish, she could grow gills and fins.

Nat was just part fish, with brown hair and green eyes. I found out from the others that he'd had a crush on Ichthia since they were children but was too shy to tell her.

Myles had spiky red hair and blue eyes, and red cardinal wings.

Leti was part cheetah – blond hair with black spots, large brown freckles on his face and neck, retractable claws, and a tail. He had brown eyes.

Luna was part wolf, but not like an Eraser. She had wolf ears and a tail, sharp canines, and sharp nails. She had dark brown hair and yellowish eyes.

Drake was kind of like a dragon. He was a foot long lizard-bat recombinant who happened to breathe fire. He was like our pet.

Like I said before, they were good friends and accepted me almost immediately. Whenever we were forced to fight Erasers and Crocs (crocodile men) in the arena, we helped each other out.

Speaking of the arena, that's where I first discovered my powers.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Max.**

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Chapter 3

"Go!" shouted a whitecoat.

We had been in the arena, fighting a mix of Erasers and Crocs. Chris, a Croc who had started hitting on Ichthia, was there as well.

He didn't stay for long though because he came at her alone. She flipped him over her back, got on top of him, and broke his arm and jaw. He was dragged out to have the bones set.

I was having trouble defending myself. _Stupid self-defense tests_. _They couldn't have just put us on treadmills or something?_

An Eraser slammed into me from behind. I was knocked forward and quickly got up and tried to get into a fighting stance.

Five minutes later, I was backed against a wall as the whitecoats looked on; wanting only to stop the fighting if I was in danger of being killed. An Eraser was coming at me again, swinging his foot forward in a roundhouse kick.

I flung my arms in front of myself, even though I knew it wouldn't stop him, and flinched.

The kick never came. However, I did hear some excited muttering from the whitecoats.

I opened my eyes to see I'd made a force field.

A shimmering, purple-colored bubble, it had effectively stopped the kick, and the Eraser now lay on the floor glaring at me.

_Cool. This should be fun for all the other fighting tests._ I grinned and flipped the Eraser the bird.

Unfortunately the force field didn't last very long after that, and when it dissipated I was taken back to my cage and thrown in.

It wasn't all though.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

**A/N: once again, sorry that the updates only come once a week. But thanks to everyone who reviews my stories. :)**

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Chapter 4

About two months after that, I discovered I had telekinesis. Luckily, I found out without the whitecoats finding out as well. At night I practiced my force fields and telekinesis when everyone else was asleep.

And a week later, Myles gave me a nice compliment on something. We'd gotten to be good friends, and now hormones were having their way with the both of us – I was getting to have a crush on him, and was embarrassed by the compliment.

I thought I was blushing, but it turned out to be the opposite. Myles stared at me – or rather, in my general direction.

"Ava?" he asked, shocked.

"What?" I hadn't noticed yet.

"I can't see you." I was as shocked as he was when I realized I couldn't see my body. I had turned invisible. It was the last of my three powers to show up, and that was the end of the list.

Of course, I wasn't a power hog – some of the others had powers too.

Ichthia could move water, control it. Twist it into shapes and change its state of matter. She also had super strength – she could take on a maximum of five Erasers at once.

Myles could seemingly make simple objects, like crowbars, out of nowhere. The scientific explanation was much more complicated. Myles somehow changed the number of molecules in the atoms (or the DNA code in the cells) of already present objects, like the atmosphere. Resulting in something out of thin air.

Leti could just run fast, and Luna once talked to a fox. That's about it. Nat was kind of left out. And Drake could breathe fire, although I did mention it before.

So really, that's the explanation and background story for what's going on tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Max.**

**A/N: Yes, this is the last chapter. Be on the lookout for Max Meets Ava, the sequel. Coming to websites near you next week.**

**Seriously though, thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story, as well as the original. I hope you like the next one.**

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Chapter 5

Like I said at the beginning of the story, I've been practicing my powers for a while now. I could use them to get out of here once I'm good enough.

I turned myself visible again, put up a force field around my cage. I held it up for a solid five minutes; then let it down. Now for the telekinesis. I took off my sneaker, held it up in front of me, and concentrated again. I lifted the shoe about five inches (not much space in dog cages) and kept it there for a while. When I was satisfied I let it float down and put it back on my foot.

Done for the night, I curled up and fell asleep.

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In the morning it was the same routine all day. Get rudely awakened by whitecoats with tasers, run on treadmills, fight Erasers and Crocs, get some crummy lunch, testing, blah, blah, blah. Etc. I went to sleep early that night, so I could wake up early.

I woke up while it was still dark, and I looked around to make sure I was the only one in the room besides the other experiments. No whitecoats, no Erasers, no Crocs. All clear. I concentrated on a set of keys sitting on a desk and made them come over to my hand. Trying to make as little noise as possible, I unlocked my cage. Slowly, quietly, I opened the door and stepped out.

Now to let the others out. I stepped toward Ichthia's cage to unlock it. The door to the room burst open, revealing Erasers and Crocs.

What the –? Why were they here this early? The current escape plan was down the toilet, if I didn't leave now our chances for any future escape were down to zero. I put up a force field and ran, panicking.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I didn't want to leave my friends behind, but this way I could come back to save them, with a real plan. If I stayed or tried to let them out then, I could have been caught and kept in an isolation tank for the rest of my miserable life.

So I ran, knocking people over like bowling pins. Up the stairs, out the doors, and into the yard. Erasers, Crocs, whitecoats, were knocked over, and tranquilizer darts bounced off. I snapped out my wings and managed a running takeoff over the two security fences.

I flew on, force field gone now, and still panicking. _Just where the heck am I gonna go?_

I heaved a sigh as I veered away from an oncoming flying Eraser. _I'm sorry guys. I'll come back... as soon as I get these stupid flying Erasers off my tail... I'll come back._

_End._


End file.
